Savings avoid threat to state parks

Published 4:09 pm, Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Photo: Paul Buckowski

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Jessica Ottney, background right, Director of State Government Relations for the Nature Conservancy addresses members of the Senate and Assembly during a joint hearing on Governor Andrew Cuomo's budget at the Legislative Office Building in Albany, NY on Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011. Each group or organization that appeared to testify was given ten minutes for their opeing statements. Tuesdays hearing focused on the money put into environmental concerns for the State. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union) less

Jessica Ottney, background right, Director of State Government Relations for the Nature Conservancy addresses members of the Senate and Assembly during a joint hearing on Governor Andrew Cuomo's budget at the ... more

Photo: Paul Buckowski

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Sean Mahar, Director of Government Relations for Audubon of New York, addresses members of the Senate and Assembly during a joint hearing on Governor Andrew Cuomo's budget at the Legislative Office Building in Albany, NY on Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011. Tuesday's hearing focused on the money put into environmental concerns for the state. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union) less

Sean Mahar, Director of Government Relations for Audubon of New York, addresses members of the Senate and Assembly during a joint hearing on Governor Andrew Cuomo's budget at the Legislative Office Building in ... more

Photo: Paul Buckowski

Savings avoid threat to state parks

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ALBANY -- Don't expect a repeat of last spring's budget-driven threats to close state parks, the acting head of the park system told a panel of state lawmakers Tuesday during a hearing on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed 2010-11 budget.

But get ready for a different kind of drama around the beginning of June, when the state Department of Environmental Conservation is slated to release proposed rules to regulate the controversial natural gas drilling technique called hydrofracking.

"We will not be repeating last year's scenario," Beers said during a hearing of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee. The budget also contains no changes in park fees, with Beers saying fee hikes last year have brought the parks "up to market rates."

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A park advocacy group that includes former parks commissioner Carol Ash, who went through the political firestorm that followed last year's closure threats, took Beers' announcement with a grain of salt.

"While it may be reassuring to hear that the agency has no plans to close parks at this time, it is difficult to see how they will be able to achieve required savings without serious service reductions and even closure of some park operations," said Erik Kulleseid, director of the Alliance for New York State Parks.

His group called for the state to impose a 1-cent fee on disposable plastic grocery store shopping bags that would yield $60 million a year help pay for the parks. The group released a poll of 1,000 registered state voters that found 73 percent supported the idea of the bag fee.

"The crisis facing New York's state parks goes far beyond this year's budget proposal. Although parks may be open, there are pools and campsites not open due to the continuing deterioration of the system," Kulleseid said.

Last year, the parks office estimated that it could cost more than a billion dollars to repair, restore and update the aging system of 178 parks and 35 historic sites.

On the question of hydrofracking, acting DEC head Joe Martens said the agency, which has been looking for more than two years at regulations for hydrofracking, said the agency expects to issue results near a June 1 deadline set under an executive order issued by the Paterson administration.

Hydrofracking is a technique that uses a high-pressure mix of water, sand and drilling chemicals to fracture gas-bearing rocks deep underground. Opponents claim it poses a threat to water quality, while the industry insists it is safe.

Martens said DEC was 85 percent complete on new rules while it continues to review more than 14,000 comments on draft rules issued by DEC in September 2009, after more than a year of study.